CHITRAL: At least 19 people were killed in flooding and torrential rains in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Chitral district late on Friday, KP’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said.

The PDMA has confirmed 29 deaths since torrential rains and flooding began in the affected district. At least 10 people have died in Saht, eight in Uthol, two people each in Broze, Gohkir, and Lone, and one person each in Reshun, Ayun, Hingel, Green Lasht, and Warinj.

The latest casualties come as flooding and torrential rains wreaked havoc in most parts of the affected district on Friday and Saturday.

According to local administration, the most affected area in Chitral was the Mulkhow union council, where more than a dozen people, including children and women, were reportedly missing.

Meanwhile, area police said so far 11 dead bodies have been recovered and rescue and search operations were underway to locate missing persons.

A police official present in the flood-hit area told DawnNews that heavy rains began on Friday afternoon and triggered flash floods that damaged houses, shops, hospitals, bridges and government installations.

Hundreds of houses and shops in different areas of the Mulkhow sub-division, including Astro, Muzhgol, Authool, Warijun and Kushum villages, were washed away by flash flooding, compelling thousands of people to leave their homes.

The rains also destroyed the area’s communication system and that became the main hurdle in the way of effective rescue operations.

According to locals, the administration of Mustuj tehsil has failed to launched a rescue operation and local residents and affected people were searching for missing family members and friends on their own.

A local resident Fayyaz Khan told DawnNews via telephone that the administration had failed to issue early warnings and because of that residents of vulnerable localities could not manage to vacate the said neighbourhoods prior to the floods.

The police official said it was early to determine the exact degree of damage caused. He added that police and administration officials were busy in managing rescue operations. However, locals said more than 100 houses had been swept away.

A private hospital, a petrol pump, a bank and more than 100 shops and a police station were washed away and a police station had also been damaged.